Fence-post.



J. F. CARPENTER.

FENCE POST.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, I915.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY.

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. FENCE-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

Application filed January 8, 1915. Serial No. 1,116.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. OARPEN- mm, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Wheeling, county of Ohio, and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Posts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates broadly to fence posts, and specifically to a reinforced concrete post designed for having fence wires attached thereto.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a concrete fence post having means whereby fence wires may be readily attached and whereby slack in said wires may be taken up as occasion may require.

A further object is 'to provide a concrete fence post having a centrally disposed slot therein extending from its front face to its rear face and provided with a novel form of reinforcement, or reinforcing means.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the features of construction, arrangement of parts and combinations of elements which will hereinafter be fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front elevation'of my improved post, illustrating the application of fence wires thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the metal reinforcement.

Referring to said drawings, in which like designating characters distinguish like parts throughout the several views, 1 indicates a fence post composed of concrete and having a vertically disposed central slot 2 extending therethrough from its front face to its rear face and from a point adjacent to its upper end to a point near the ground line of said post'when the same isset in the earth. A series of horizontal grooves 3 disposed at spaced distances for the reception of fence wires 4 are preferably provided in the front face of the post, and d rected ro gh i slot 2 from the rear face of the post is a plurality of bolts 5 having hooks 6 on their front ends for engaging the fence wires. The said bolts have their rear ends threaded and projecting rearward from said slot for the reception of nuts 7 which are adapted to seat against washers 8 disposed in pressure exerting relation to the rear face of the post at opposite sides of said slot.

The fence wires are initially stretched tight and, lying in the grooves 3, are held in place by the bolts 5. When necessary to take up slack occurring in a wire, the bolt by which the latter is attached is drawn rearwardly by forward rotation of its nut 7, causing the slack to be drawn into the slot 2 in the form of a loop or kink, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 3.

Due to the central location of the slot, the usual centrally disposed reinforcing core of wood or metal can not be employed. I therefore embed in the concrete a metal bar 9 bent to substantially the form of an inverted U, the parallel members of which occupy positions at opposite sides of said slot, as shown in Fig. 3, while the curved connecting portion occupies a position above the upper terminus of said slot, as shown in Fig. 2.

What is claimed is In a concrete fence post for supporting wire, a body of rectangular cross-section having a central vertical slot intermediate its top and bottom and extending entirely through the front and rear faces thereof, bolts in the slot each having a hook on one end adapted to move with its engaged wire into the slot, the latter being of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the hook plus two thicknesses of the wire so that as the hook is moved into the slot with the wire the latter will be wedged between the hook and the walls of the slot, a nut on the other end of each bolt to exert pressure against the rear face of the body, and a rigid reinforcing element of U-form the legs of which are parallel and fixedly related so as to resist the spreading tendency produced in moving the bolts with their wires into the body slot, said element straddling the slot ture in presence of two subscribing Witand having its legs of'e1ongat%d(igctangu1ar nesses. cross-section and centrall em e e on 0 posite sides of the slot, the connecting r JOSEPH CARPENTER closed end of the U-element extending across Witnesses: the upper end of the slot and above the same.v H. E. DUNLAP,

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signa- W. F. KEEFER.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington; D. G. 

